


Mr. Linden's Library

by forgotmyline



Category: Original Work, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick - Chris Van Allsburg
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 15:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7469607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgotmyline/pseuds/forgotmyline
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had warned her about the book.Now it was too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mr. Linden's Library

**Author's Note:**

> This is a writing project I worked on with both my son and husband. My 8 year old had to pick a picture from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick and write a story based on/inspired by it for school and he wanted us to write a story as well. I chose the picture titled Mr. Linden's Library. You can find out more about The Harris Burdick Mysteries [here](http://harrisburdickproject.weebly.com/). It's a really great book, and got my son thinking and using his imagination, and the pictures themselves are really gorgeous.

 

He had warned her about the books. Now it was too late. Shelby hadn’t done it on purpose, not exactly anyway. It’s just that any other seven year old would have been just as curious when Mr. Linden, the librarian at her boarding school, had pointed to the bookshelf in the far corner saying, “That one there is off limits. No exceptions.”

It was half hidden in shadows, covered in dust and cobwebs and locked up tighter than Cook’s dessert cabinet (and she should know - a whole month at Foxcroft’s School for Girls and she  _ still _ hadn’t managed to get in there). So she couldn’t really be blamed for sneaking back after the library closed and Mr. Linden had gone home for the night. She had just wanted a look, a peek, really, that’s all. And so peek she did. She rubbed circles in the dusty glass so that she could see inside, standing on tip toes with her face pressed against it.

Oh, but they were pretty things, these forbidden books! They were bound in leather, in all sorts of colors too. Deep crimson, plum, sky blue, with shiny silver or gold on the edges of the papers. She wanted to touch them. No, she  _ needed _ to, like she had never needed anything in all her young life before now. 

The door on the case was locked according to Mr. Linden, but Shelby tried the knob anyway. It opened at the slightest touch, as if the books inside wanted her just as much as she wanted them. Her hand hovered before them all for a moment. They were all so lovely and she wished she could take a whole armful of them, but it wouldn’t do to get caught. Mama would be so disappointed if she got sent home for something like this. 

She finally settled on a slim volume bound in pale purple leather with silver writing on the spine in a language she didn’t know. It reminded her of the lilacs in Mama’s garden, and it comforted her to have this reminder of home.

She tucked it under her arm and shut the door, too excited to hear the click of the lock or to see that the circles she had rubbed clean were just as filthy as ever. Her bare feet barely made a sound as she padded along swiftly over ancient stone floors.

Shelby made it to her room in record time, hiding under her blankets as quickly as possible to her roommate didn’t catch her sneaking about in the middle of the night. She really didn’t need to worry - Josie was fast asleep and snoring loud enough to wake the dead. 

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. It’s not that she was afraid she’d get caught - she’d had lots of practice sneaking around to explore and she had gotten very good at it. Of course, there was the incident with her brother, but Landon was gone now and she pushed those thoughts from her mind. 

_ No sad thoughts tonight, _ Shelby thought to herself, poking her head out of her blankets so she could take a look at her pilfered treasure. She almost didn’t want to open the book because she knew the thrill of what she  _ might _ find within its pages was likely more exciting than what she would  _ actually _ find. Still, it had to be done, otherwise what was the point of taking it in the first place. 

Slow and steady, she turned the cover and frowned. It looked like the book was written in whatever language was on the spine. She flipped through the pages, seeing the same writing throughout, but there were pictures at least. She slowed down to look at them. Even without being able to understand the words, she was completely engrossed. The pictures showed some sort of... of fairy land, she thought. There were pictures of magnificent landscapes, of wilderness the likes of which just wasn’t found anymore. There were buildings like none she had ever seen, both great and small, and creatures that were terrible and beautiful and sometimes both. 

There was one picture she couldn’t stop looking at. It was a great field, blanketed in flowers, the sky a clear and cloudless blue, and in the field was a young boy. The boy had an uncanny resemblance to her brother, but that wasn’t really possible, was it? He was gone, and nobody knew where he was or if he would ever come back. He was only a few years older than Shelby, and he liked to explore just as much, too. That’s how it had happened. 

They had moved to their Grandmother’s estate after their father died and their Mama couldn’t stay at their old home. There was so much to explore, both in the big, old house and the surrounding grounds, but there wasn’t enough time in the day to explore as much as they wanted. And so her brother had decided to explore at night, even thought Grandmother had warned them against it, and she had gone with him. Everything was fine, and they were having such a grand time, but somehow they got separated. She had returned home, but her brother never did. It was if he had just disappeared, right into thin air. 

She fell asleep with that page open, thinking about her brother and having the strangest dreams. She dreamt of the lands in the book, of her brother, happy and running through that field. She dreamt of vines growing out of the book, wrapping around her and pulling and tugging.

It smelled like sunshine and flowers when Shelby woke, and it took her a few minutes to realize she wasn’t in her bed at Foxcroft’s anymore. She stood to look around, wiggling her toes in the grass under them, and spinning to see as much as she could. Her eyes widened, and her heart raced when she realized where she was, impossible as it seemed. The field from the picture. But if that was true, then it meant…

Landon! There he was, staring up at the sky just like the boy picture. She ran towards him, calling his name as she got closer. Her brother turned to face her, his eyes growing wide at the sight of Shelby running towards him. “Shelby?” he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper. 

He pulled her into his arms, picking her up to give her a twirl as she giggled. Shelby wondered for just a moment how Mama and Grandmother would feel if she didn't come home, just like Landon, but it passed quickly. Here, back with her brother again, her best friend, she finally felt like she was home. 


End file.
